spaceball.gif Joey's Diet Coke and Mentos Experiment

Introduction

My experiment consists of two parts. The first part consists of finding out if a gas is released wen the soda blows out of the bottle. I will find this out by putting a balloon on top of the bottle before the explosion happens, so that I can catch the gas and test it with fire by evaluating the reaction it has to the fire.

The second part of my experiment is that I want to test the amount of Mentos vs. the six of the explosion of diet coke. I will have the same amount of coke in every single experiment the only variable that will change is the amount of Mentos that is put in. I will start with one fourth of a Mento and I will go all the way up to 20 Mentos.

Experiment Aim

I want my experiment to look like this video.



Material
  • Diet Coke
  • Measuring tape
  • Balloon
  • Mentos
  • Matches
  • Long stick
  • Needle

  1. Experiment (A)
-Procedure
I got a bottle containing 400ml of Diet Coke that had been open before three months before. I placed four mentos inside of a balloon which was then placed on top of the diet coke bottle. There was no large reaction to this. The Coke started bubbling but nothing exploded. I was able to capture a small amount of the gas that was released. Which I then test by placing fire in side the balloon containing the gas. The was no visible reaction.
- Observation
The reaction was minor only a very small reaction was made. I believe it was because most of the the carbon dioxide in the soda was gone. When I placed the Mento into the solution the soda made small bubbles as the mentos hit the button of the beaker.

2. Experiment (B)
-Procedure
Experiment (B)- I used a 1.25l of Diet Coke and five mentos. The five mentos were put inside a balloon then that balloon went inside another balloon. We were able to video tape the reaction. The balloon was able to contain a small amount of the gas that was released but then the balloon popped off the bottle.The reaction was not what I was expecting.
-Observation
At first the balloon was able to contain a very small amount of the gas that was released at one point the balloon went flying and a Mento went with it.



3.Experiment (C)-
- Procedure

In this experiment I tried to figure out why the experiment was missing so it would explode like I wanted it to. I had four beakers in each one I had 3 mentos that together weighted 8.19g and in each test tube there was 100ml of diet coke.In the first test tube I had 3 mentos that had not been alter with. In the second test tube I had 3 mentos that had been sand so that the outer layer of the mentos was gone. In the third test tube I had three mentos that had been smash to that they would be thin. In the fourth test tube I had 8.19g of carbon which is what three mentos weight. This type of carbon is used fish tanks.
-Observation
- In the first test tube the the was minor reaction the diet coke bubbled a little and it rise a small amount causing the diet coke to fall off the test tube and into the table.
- In the second test tube that contain the mentos without the outer layer the reaction was extremely small, smaller then in the first test tube. However it did cause the diet coke to bubble and release some gases.
- In the third test tube that contained the smashed mentos there almost wasn't a reaction.
- In the fourth beaker contained that contain the material that goes in the bottom of aquariums

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  • Reason Why my Experiment didn't work

My theory and Mr. Happer's on why it didn't work is that the mentos that made in china are different to the ones made in the rest of the world. The other possibility is that the diet coke in China is different to the rest of the world. I would have to get mentos and diet coke form the United States to test my theory.

  • The Science Behind My Experiment

The surface of the mentos has a very high density and when placed in the diet coke it combines with the carbon dioxide and causes the explosion. Diet coke is the best soda to use because it contains less sugar then other sodas, in regular soda the sugar slows down the reaction. The artificial sweeter cause the reaction to be quicker. The surface of the mentos creates a nucleation.

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